Come and see Flo at Coffee Shop 18

[blownoutcylinder]

Jim My dad used to have some of those crossbucks mounted on some kinds of springs--if you knocked them over they'd just come right back up. I never did find out whether he just made up the attachments and added the crossbucks or what. The quarry is owned by Carmeuse Limestone--it is a pretty large operation--the rust bucket mill is the part that was temporarily shut down recently--the really white one is on the east side of the complex. When it is sunny out the whiteness of the area is such as to give my camera the fits!

 

[pcarrell]

Thanks for that link, Phillip. I didn't realize that the CMT sub-type of MD was so relatively common. I think I saw maybe two in my 15 years as a paramedic. Unfortunately, it's very much like the leukemia my late wife had, with different variations influenced by genotypes and hereditary factors. It would be hard enough to cure one type but it's another smart disease that just keeps on mutating. It sure would be nice if some of this unbelievable deficit we've built up was directed towards diseases like CMT and leukemia instead of bailing out banks that should have been allowed to fail.

Jim, you've got that right! CMT is semi common, but 95% of cases are so mild that people never even know they have it. They live their whole lives without a clue. It's only the 5% that have it bad enough that it gets figured out, and only a handful of them have it real bad (Thank the Lord!).

So you've been a paramedic for 15 years? That's a tough job!

 

[UP2CSX]

Jeffrey, we have some thunderstorms just south of now that made the trek all the way from the Georgia coast to here. They are only moving at about 10 mph and weakening but we should see at least a little rain from them in the next 45 minutes or so. It's really rare for storms to go from east to west and hold together this late at night here, especially since the dewpoint is only 55, not conducive to thunderstorms. Look for some more strange weather through the weekend as low as that low keeps hanging around in the Gulf.

BOC, the spring idea would work great if these were just crossbucks but they are crossbucks and gates and the mount has to be rigid enough for the Tortoise to move the gate actuating rod up and down and not have the rest of the signal bend at the same time. I got the broken wire soldered and heat shrinked. Then I did what I should have done when I was first building the layout. The road goes up fairly steeply to the crossing and I should have built a platform for the crossing gate and retaining wall for the road. Well, act in haste and repent in leisure, so I've spent the last few hours cleaning out the area and rebuilding it correctly. I'll then mount just the four signal legs to the platform with silicone. This should be strong enough to resist bending when the gate goes up and down but also be a little flexible. The other problem with CA is it is almost impossible to keep some from flowing down the hole where the wires and rod got through the top of the layout and gumming up the rod. I used a small heat shrink tube to make a dam this time so nothing should go down the hole. I've come to the conclusion that operating gates are way more trouble than they are worth. Looks like some nice quality limestone comes out of the quarry if it's that pure a white.

Phillip, was a paramedic for 15 years. Retired now from anything that has to do with needles or guns. I was a paramedic as well as a deputy because we operated a helicopter that was for law enforcement and an air ambulance. Since I was already an EMT and we had to always have a paramedic on board to qualify as an air ambulance, guess who got picked to go to paramedic school? It wasn't so bad since I had been a respiratory therapist and an EMT. I felt bad for the folks who just got dropped into the deep end of the pool though. It was a six month course and you have to learn about 90% of what in RN learns in two years. I'm trying to explain to my oldest daughter, who's now in nursing school, that she should just forget about a social life for the next year but she's not getting the picture yet. I hope she does before she gets kicked out of nursing school. I dealt with mostly trauma and heart patients but had a few MD patients when they were in such extreme pain we had to fly them over to UC Davis, which was the big medical center that had MD specialists. It was right up there with trying to pass a kidney stone except the narcotics didn't work as well to relieve the pain. We had one case of an MD patient who was about 30 years old and I suspect in the end stages of the disease. He had been on pain medication so long that we just couldn't give him enough to relieve his pain without intubating him and pumping in enough dilaudid to kill a horse. Poor guy was still in pain. We finally used curare to paralyze him and had the respirator do his breathing. That was the only way he finally got some relief. He was a really nice guy and had a good attitude considering all the pain he was in. I think I would have seriously considered suicide if I had to live with that kind of pain every day.

Mighty quiet here in the coffee shop as we head for the Labor Day weekend. Danny had become a tropical storm but he's not very well organized yet. He should get his act together by Friday and become a category one hurricane. He should stay far enough offshore not to affect the Outer Banks except for waves but the models want to take him right over Cape Cod by Saturday night. Those of you within 50 miles of the Atlantic on the East Coast should monitor Danny since any forecasts more than 24 hours before landfall have a large amount of uncertainty.

Shoot! I just checked the radar and those storms are literally falling apart just before they get here. It looks like we're going to get aboout five drops if we're lucky. We're cursed.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning.

It's 69 and cloudy. The high will be around 90 and there's a chance of rain.

Good thing I got the grass cut Tuesday because we had a line of freak thunderstorms yesterday that just popped up out of nowhere. My mother and I had gone to Burger King about 10:15 yesterday morning and it was mostly clear. Within just a few minutes it clouded up and suddenly it looked like late evening. A couple of minutes later it started pouring down rain. We got a little over an inch in about half an hour. The only layout work I got done was to make the edge of a cloud more rounded. I really didn't feel like doing much. Recently I order two of those 'Windshield Wonders' cleaning brushes you see advertised on TV. What I got in the mail were two boxes labeled 'Glass Wizard'. They look a little different from what's presented in the ad. I'll find out how well it works when I clean the inside of my cars windshield. I gave the other one to my sister so she won't have such a hard time cleaning the windshield of her Honda Civic Si. You almost have to be a contortionist to pull that off. Maybe today I can get more layout work done.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 8/27/2009

Wind Chill: 69°F
Humidity: 88%
Dew Point: 65°F

So Far Today
High: 70°F
Low: 69°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 3mph NNE

Today High: 90 with a heat index of 101. Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs around 90. South winds around 5 mph.

Tonight Low: 70 Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows around 70. Southwest winds around 5 mph.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm18/forum-2/DSCN0638.jpg

 

[blownoutcylinder]

Good morning people

We are dull today. High of 20C and going to a low of 10C tonight--of course we'll be dull tomorrow as well and 19C for a high---the only time we'll see showers is on Saturday. Then two more dull days before sun is seen again--so it'll be 5 dull days to get 1/2 day of showers---

Jim If anyone be modelling the limestone quarry around here there is a variety! Some of it is so white that it coats everything in white---oh BTW the rails that were/are around there are all coated in white as well as the fence around that property. These pix--minus the "Hogg's Mill" one,that is located in Thamesford ON--kind of describe this scenario---any hoppers around here were just plain ol' white, including the trucks

 

[tompm]

Good morning folks

It was 74 F this bright morning. High will be 82 F. We are waiting to see how close Danny comes and how it will affect our weather this weekend.

We had our Cub Scout planning meeting last night. It went pretty well and we were able to iron out a few things. Parent attendance was not what I had hoped for, but it was better than the last two years participation. So I consider that an improvement.

I knew I would not get any trains in last night.

This morning has been frustrating. The van is acting up. It had a coolant leak a while back. We had it fixed and everything has been fine. This morning, however, the temperature gauge went higher than normal. It never spiked but it was bouncing around a little too much. I checked the coolant level and it is lower than where it should be but I cannot see any signs of a leak. I’ll see how it acts on the way home tonight.

I hope everybody has a good day.

 

[Secondhandmodeler]

Good morning everyone.

I've been hard at work building the kits for downtown Mankato. My mill is looking closer and closer to the actual thing. My only problem is not having enough track to actually service that size of mill. Oh well, it'll look cool anyway!

We're rounding the bend into fall around here. Usually I'm excited to get to fall. This year I'm holding on to summer a little tighter than usual. Probably because it's been highs in the upper seventies to lower eighties all summer. You just can't beat that kind of weather.

I can tell I've been busy lately, I only duck in here a couple times a week! I hope you guys are doing okay. I guess it's time to go to work, have a great day!

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Had to take my mother to the diagnostic center this morning for a CT scan. It was going to be about an hour before they got around to her so I went to BJ's Diner for breakfast. I was in very good appetite. I had steak and eggs with hash browns and pancakes. The steak was an 8 oz sirloin and the 4 pancakes were each the size of dinner plates. Now that's my idea of a good breakfast.

 

[stationmaster]

And the ol' sugar goes up and up and up and up...... Taters, pancakes.....wow.... did you take a nap afterward?

All I have to do is just think of pancakes and my sugar rises 50 points. Add the spuds and it's nap time for ol' Bob.

Must be your 'free' day today.

Bob

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

And the ol' sugar goes up and up and up and up...... Taters, pancakes.....wow.... did you take a nap afterward?

Blood sugar was low to start with and no, no nap. I picked my mother up at the diagnostic center and took her home.

 

[UP2CSX]

Afternoon, everyone.

BOC, those limestone operations remind of the Portland Cement plant outside Victorville, CA. They were the bihhest producers of cement on the west coast and everything was covered in 70 years worth of white dust, including the highway and all the worker's houses. It was just like you entered a winter scene with 110 degree temperatures. I don't know if they're still in operation. The California Air Pollution Board has been after them for years.

Tom, I hate tracking down coolant leaks. Seems like it would be a lot easier if all our engines were air cooled.

Corey, you guys have had a great summer. Nice temperatures and relatively low humidity. I wouldn't be wishing for fall because you know what comes next. Glad to hear you're making progress on the layout.

Jeffrey, I hope the CT scan results are god. You can eat way more than me. One of those pancakes would have filled me up. Does seem like a lot of sugar and carbs for a diabetic but I guess you know what you're doing. My blood sugar is still good but, at 63, you start worrying about things like diabetes creeping up on you.

I was wrong last night - it actually rained for five minutes! Not enough to tilt the rain gauge but at least it was something. Lots of convection along the Gulf but, as it moves north, it falls apart. Our dewpoint is only60 and it needs to get closer to 70 before any of those storms will survive.

I got the crossing gate remounted correctly and cleaned up the road approach. Now I have to crawl back uner the layout to hook up the wires and get the Tortoise adjusted for the gate again. I hate crawling under the layout. First, it hurts my back. Second, there are always things you spot while you're under there, like a wire clip that has come loose or a connection that looks sketchy. A five minute job always turns into an hour and there's always at least three things you need that you have to crawl out and get and then remember to bring back out again. I'm waitig for the day wehn we have Wi-Fi layouts.

Danny boy is looking ragged this morning but he's still a youngster. He's near hurricane strength now and should become one later tonight or tomorrow morning depending on when he finally develops a closed circulation and an eye. The models are being more insistent on taking Danny over eastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod, and Maine. I'm betting on a near direct hit on Cape Cod as a category one hurricane sometime late Saturday. Bad time with the Labor Day holiday so I hope they start their evacuations early and don't fool around. Looks like Nova Scotia is going to get it again, with Danny still being a strong tropical storm when it goes ashore there. Once again, all these predictions have a large margin of error, so keep an eye on the Weather Channel if you live from the Outer Banks north.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Jeffrey, I hope the CT scan results are god. You can eat way more than me. One of those pancakes would have filled me up. Does seem like a lot of sugar and carbs for a diabetic but I guess you know what you're doing. My blood sugar is still good but, at 63, you start worrying about things like diabetes creeping up on you.

Blood sugar count was low this morning (69) so I wasn't too worried about it.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Here's something funny. The forecast info at the top of my screen says it's mostly sunny. I just looked outside and the sky is heavily overcast and I can hear thunder. Mostly sunny my eye!

 

[blownoutcylinder]

Here's something funny. The forecast info at the top of my screen says it's mostly sunny. I just looked outside and the sky is heavily overcast and I can hear thunder. Mostly sunny my eye!

We get that up here a lot---then again, I would be looking around the horizon and it'd be clear---here. Dull. Go figure

 

[kbkchooch]

Tom, I hate tracking down coolant leaks. Seems like it would be a lot easier if all our engines were air cooled.

I gotta agree with Jim on this one. Coolant leaks are a bummer. Might I suggest you get some phosphoresent dye for cooling system and a black light and yellow goggles. (They sell them in kits at auto parts stores) Add dye to coolant, run it a few days, then go over the whole system with the black light. Leaked dye shows up like a sore thumb! IF you still can find it, take out the sparkplugs. Dye on one would indicate a head gasket leak, dye on all indicates an intake gasket leak.

Danny boy is looking ragged this morning but he's still a youngster. He's near hurricane strength now and should become one later tonight or tomorrow morning depending on when he finally develops a closed circulation and an eye. The models are being more insistent on taking Danny over eastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod, and Maine. I'm betting on a near direct hit on Cape Cod as a category one hurricane sometime late Saturday. Bad time with the Labor Day holiday so I hope they start their evacuations early and don't fool around. Looks like Nova Scotia is going to get it again, with Danny still being a strong tropical storm when it goes ashore there. Once again, all these predictions have a large margin of error, so keep an eye on the Weather Channel if you live from the Outer Banks north.

Any storm named after my youngest son bears watching. His middle name is unpredictable!!!

Oh and Jim, I got away from that "crawling under" problem with the modules. I just unbolt em, put them on thier backs on a card table, and sit on a chair and fix stuff! Quite comfy!

 

[UP2CSX]

Hey, our forecasts come out of Birminham, about 80 miles from here. They are in a building that doesn't even have windows. One of the forecasters have to go outside to see if it's raining and what the sky looks like. It was even worse in California, where the forcecasts for Sonoma County came out of Monterrey, 200 miles away and, again, the building didn't even have windows. We could be having a raging storm and it could be sunny in Monterrey. The amazing thing is not how many forecasts they get wrong, it's that they get any right.

Karl, I'd love to be able to flip my layout, which is really built as a series of modules, over and work on it. Unfortunately, the card table is kind of tough on the buildings and trees. You're sort of stuck keeping it upright when you have as much junk as I do on the layout.

Danny is a weird looking storm, with the main thunderstorm activity offset by almost 200 miles from the nominal center. The forecasters are starting to write it off but I think it's reorganizing and will form a new center with a better defined eyewall by this time tomorrow. I don't think it will even become a huge hurricane but I wouldn't like to spend the weekend in a beach house Cape Cod either.

 

[RexHea]

Hey Jim, thanks for not using up all the rain. We got another one of those floods at 1530hrs for two hours. BTW: Check your calendar for Labor Day .

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning.

It's 74 and partly cloudy. The high will be in the high 80's and there's a chance of rain.

Had some thunderstorms blow through the area yesterday but no rain to speak of. I had plans to work on the layout yesterday but had to take my mother to a doctors appointment instead because she figured she wasn't up to driving. She sure was up to side seat driving though. Maybe I'll get a chance to work on the layout today.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 8/28/2009

Heat Index: 79°F
Humidity: 95%
Dew Point: 73°F

So Far Today
High: 77°F
Low: 74°F
Rain: 0.07"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 3mph NNE

Scattered showers were noted streaming down from the lakes region in southeast Texas into the Beaumont area and portions of southwest Louisiana. This pattern will continue through the overnight hours.

Today High: 88 Partly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 80s. West winds around 5 mph.

Tonight Low: 72 Partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 70s. West winds around 5 mph.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm18/forum-2/DSCN1796.jpg

 

[AndrewC]

Good morning all from Ye Olde London Towne.
A chilly start to the day at 13c with a high of only 21c today (70f in that ancient scale) and lots of rain for the next couple of days. hmmm, must be a long weekend here.

Things have been a bit strange lately. Work has pushed my frustration-o-meter into the red. Modelling has been pretty much non-existent. The honey-do list keeps growing, yadda yadda yadda.

Sadly one my oldest friends back in Canada passed away this week from esophageal cancer. A real gent and fantastic model builder. Bad timing as well, as I was hoping to see him in a couple of weeks when I'm there.

Hoping to get down to Montana for a day or 2 to get some photos and video to help with the layout building. That is if I ever get that bloody shed finished. Still drywalling the inside.

Well that's enough verbage from me. Have a good weekend all and look after yourselves.

 

[blownoutcylinder]

Good Morning

Andrew I see you've been "enjoying" the "lovely" weather we're having!! Today, I woke up to a temperature of 9C with our high at the mighty 19C We're expecting about 1.5" of rain today with some more for tomorrow as well---so no daytripping tomorrow--can't get good pix in this stuff up here---boy, when we dull up we REALLY DULL UP!!

Gonna try to build up the valley site some more at Eric's layout so that we can eventually get the trestle bridge resting on it properly. It is a little short right now

Have a good one, people